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This blog is dedicated to my mother who is my biggest inspiration and a true magician in the kitchen. The two of us have spent many memorable days together cooking up different things.
Most of the recipes that you'll find here are my own. And some are my family's or bits and parts of several recipes that I find on the net.

Melt butter in a frying pan.
Add flour and stir. Reduce heat to medium and cook the flour and butter for a minute.
Pour in the milk. Stir well make sure there are no lumps. Cook for three minutes until the milk is bubbly.
Turn the heat to low and add the blue cheese. Also add the sour cream.
Allow the cheese to melt. Use the back of your spoon to break up the cheese bits.
Season with salt. Add pepper and chili flakes.
Done!

In a separate frying pan melt some butter and cook the onions until translucent.
Add the garlic. Cook for a minute.
Toss in the artichoke hearts and spinach. Season with a pinch of salt. Cook for about 3-4 minutes.
Done!

(* I used frozen)

Put it all togetherBoil 2 cups of fresh cheese tortellini in lots of salted boiling water.
Cook El-dente. Takes me about 7-8 minutes.
Drain.
Combine the pasta in the cheese sauce.
Add the veggies and gently fold in.
Just before eating I sprinkled some more blue cheese crumbles and a small amount of fresh chopped Roma tomatoes on top!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Prepare your muffin pan by first rubbing a little butter inside and then lining with cupcake liners.
Squish the bananas with a fork or a potato masher. Its OK if you have small bits of fruit just don't use a blender it makes the bananas very sticky!
In a large bowl whisk together white and brown sugar, maple syrup, salt, egg and melted butter.
Gradually fold the flour (combined with the baking powder and baking soda) 2-3 tablespoons at a time to the banana mixture.
Your batter is ready.Time for the topping.
Very simple...
In a bowl melt the butter.
Add flour, sugar and cinnamon.
Combine with a fork.
This mixture should resemble coarse crumbles. Now divide the batter equally into the muffin pan.
Sprinkle the topping equally on each muffin.
Bake. I have made these several times and 20 mins is all it needs.

You can check by inserting a toothpick in the center and if it comes out with not too much crumbs on it, its done.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

I love soups... and Seattle provides many rainy days to enjoy a nice warm steaming bowl. Below is my Mom's recipe for one of my most favorite kind. Its Chinese originally but perhaps more popular in Pakistan than anywhere else. You can find plenty of stalls on the street selling it for not too much at all :-)

(prep time 30 mins + 2 hours for the stock)
(serves 4-6 ppl) IngredientsFor the stock Chicken wings about 18
Green/spring onions 3-5 stems (not bundles)
Ginger approx 1"x1" piece (quartered)
Water 5 cupsCombine the above ingredients together in a large stock pot and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium low and boil for at least 2 hours. Keep the pot covered.
After its been boiling for 2 hours turn the heat off and allow it cool down so you can easily handle it.
Pour the stock through a strainer to separate the chicken and other bits and chunks.
Remove the skin and bones from the wings and pull off the meat. We will add this into the soup. If you want you can add a few drumsticks along with the wings when making the stock. Those are easier to clean and handlecompared to the wings.
For a nice fat free stock refrigerate it for several hours. The fat will rise to the surface and form a hard shell that can be easily scraped off.

Re-heat the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
Add two cups of water, the chicken meat and the squished corn kernels.
Season with salt, back pepper, cayenne pepper and sugar.
Reduce the heat and pour in the corn flour slurry. Keep stirring to avoid any lumps that might form.
Reduce the heat even further and when the soup is just softly simmering slowly pour the egg whites in the center of your pot and keep stirring gently gently gently throughout. The eggs will cook and form flowy ribbons almost immediately.